


Why We Fight

by andpeggyy



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Basically WWZ with Xiuhan, Gen, Horror, Inspired by World War Z, M/M, Minor Character Death, You can pry Xiuhan from my cold dead hands, Zombie Apocalypse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-18
Updated: 2021-03-24
Packaged: 2021-03-26 19:54:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,722
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30111195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/andpeggyy/pseuds/andpeggyy
Summary: Minseok, a former U.N. investigator, is forcefully thrown into a world crisis. Now, he will have to fight with all he has to save the world and get back to his family in one piece.
Relationships: Kim Minseok | Xiumin/Lu Han
Kudos: 4





	1. Thrown into the melee

**Author's Note:**

> This is basically World War Z but with Xiuhan and co. Some lines are taken directly from the movie. I do not own anything.

  
  


“Papa,” someone whispers in Minseok’s ear. “Papa.”

Minseok doesn’t need to open his eyes to know that it’s barely light outside. However, the boy softly poking his cheek with his fingers will not relent. Experience has taught him that, unless Minseok opens his eyes, Jongin will continue poking him until the end of time.

“Papa,” he says again.

Taking a deep breath, Minseok opens his eyes and looks at Jongin, warmly tucked between him and Luhan. God, in what second did this kid jump into their bed? He didn’t even feel it.

“Hey, buddy,” Minseok greets, pulling Jongin’s too long locks away from his face.

“Are you awake now?” The boy asks innocently.

“Sure am,” Minseok answers kindly. “Why don’t you go wash your hands for breakfast while I get ready.”

“Ok,” Jongin replies, scurrying off at top speed. 

Minseok closes his eyes once again and attempts not to fall back asleep. Next to him, Luhan still slumbers without a care in the world. He thinks that, when Jongin is older and he has no kids jumping into his bed at the crack of dawn, he’ll actually miss these moments, but when he looks at the clock currently reading 6:15 am, he thinks maybe he won’t. He’s not sure yet. 

As he sits up, he lets his arm fall accidentally on purpose over Luhan’s sleeping body.

The response is automatic. 

“What? What?” Luhan mumbles, a little panicky, as he sits up and blinks tiredly at Minseok.

“Oops, sorry,” Minseok whispers. “Didn’t mean to wake you.”

“Yeah, right,” Luhan says as he flops back down and covers his head with his pillow. “I hate you.”

“I love you, too,” Minseok replies laughing, knowing Luhan will not be able to fall back asleep. It’s five minutes until their alarm goes off anyway.

“Yeah, yeah. Love you.”

Swallowing a chuckle, he goes into the bathroom to get decent for breakfast. Today is Friday so that means it’s pancake day.

As he heads into the kitchen, he stops by Soojung’s room. His only daughter is sprawled on her bed, a curtain of long black hair covering her pillow. 

“Time to get up, sweetheart,” he says softly as he pats her back.

All he hears is a loud groan as an answer but it’s enough to know the twelve-year-old is awake. She loves pancakes so she’ll move quickly.

It’s only fifteen minutes later that the whole family is gathered in the kitchen, all awaiting his pancakes. The TV blares on in the background but Minseok pays no mind to it, mostly focused on the chocolate chip-filled batter on the pan.

“Hey, babe,” Luhan greets him, properly this time. He puts his arms around Minseok and rests his head on Minseok’s shoulder. “Those look delicious.”

“They better be. Pancakes are my thing,” Minseok replies.

Luhan laughs and slaps Minseok butt tenderly. 

“Ew, dad,” Soojung exclaims. “Stop it.”

“As you wish,” Luhan says bowing down playfully. 

Soojung just rolls her eyes but can’t help the smile on her face. 

“May her royal highness set the table, please?” Luhan asks the girl.

Soojung, being the good yet snarky oldest child she is, takes whatever her dad gives her and starts setting the table. Jongin, on the other hand, is stuck to the TV. Minseok notices he looks a tad too into it and, as soon as he’s done with the last pancake, proceeds to remove the 6-year-old from the screen.

“Baby, you’ll hurt your eyes.”

“I’m not a baby,” Jongin replies with conviction.

“Right, not a baby. Go eat your pancakes.”

As Jongin moves to sit at the table, Minseok catches a glimpse from the TV. A lot of bad news, as usual; something about a virus, which peaks his attention, but he’s thoroughly distracted when Jongin suddenly says, “I lost my tooth!”

“What?” Luhan says. “Let me see.”

Minseok turns round to the tabe and sees that Jongin has, in fact, lost his second front tooth. He now has a toothless smile that is too cute for words. Minseok wants to take pictures immediately.

“Smile, baby,” he says, wasting no time. 

“Not a baby,” Jongin says but smiles anyway, wide and toothless.

Minseok smiles looking at the result. Someday he’ll print the many pictures on his and Luhan’s phones and put them on an old fashion photo album. Someday.

“You’re an old man now,” Luhan says. “Maybe you should get a job, start paying rent.”

“I can’t get a job! I’m 6!”

“6-year-olds used to work all the time back in the day, didn’t they, Papa?” Soojung adds mischievously. 

Looking at Jongin’s outraged face, Minseok cracks before he can answer, but not before he takes a picture and sends it to his brother. As he unlocks his phone, he notices there are a couple of messages from Junmyeon already.

-Are you watching the news??

-Minseok?

huh? not yet-

what’s going on?-

  
  


He gets no reply but doesn't try to call him. Junmyeon is a surgeon and is usually busy during the day. Minseok doesn't want to bother him if it’s not urgent. He hopes it’s not.

“Alright, kiddos, let’s get to school,” Luhan says, pulling Minseok from his thoughts. He picks up the dirty dishes and puts them in the sink. “I’ll get those later.”

Minseok huffs because that will likely not happen. However, he doesn't have time to pick an argument because he needs to drop everyone off. Minseok is in charge of making sure everyone is where they need to be; well, at least for the time being. After working fifteen years for the U.N. as an investigator/researcher, he is now on leave working as a full-time dad/driver/cook and whatever else his family needs. It’s been a nice change of pace.

“I’m ready,” Jongin says, backpack in tow.

“Where’s your sister?” Minseok asks him.

“She can’t find her inhaler. She’s such a doofus.”

Minseok bites his tongue so he doesn't laugh. Jongin would not appreciate it if he thought Minseok was laughing at him. “Isn’t she?” he replies instead.

“We’re gonna be late!” Luhan shouts as he rushes from the bedroom to the front door. “In the car, everyone!”

Once Soojung is in sight, Minseok grabs his keys, gets his phone and heads out.

\--

Traffic sucks, Minseok thinks. Maybe he shouldn’t have taken a central avenue to get to the kids’ school, but there isn’t exactly any other road to get there. This is his own fault. He wanted them to go to the best school in the district which was sadly located downtown. It’s also convenient since Luhan works right around the corner at a publishing firm. It was just too convenient to pass up.

“ _ Authorities are still baffled by what seems to be a strain of rabies spreading through the population. More than twelve countries have confirmed cases and more are expected to make announcements later today. It is unclear what–” _

“Daddy! Where’s Watson?” Jongin asks from his booster seat. “I thought he was in my backpack but he’s not!”

“Sweetie, he can’t come to school with you, you know that,” Luhan replies, using his calm voice to avoid any spectacles. Last time Jongin lost Watson he had a full blown tantrum.

“But he’s gonna be home alone.”

“He’ll be fine, Jonginnie. He’s a big boy, remember? Like you,” Soojung cleverly intervenes.

Minseok holds his breath as he awaits for Jongin’s reaction, and is relieved when he takes his big sister’s explanation and settles down.

When he gets his eyes back on the road, he realizes they haven’t moved an inch. This traffic is insane, it shouldn't be this bad this early in the morning.

“What’s going on, do you think?” Luhan asks quietly so the kids chatting in the back don’t hear.

“Not sure. Junmyeon sent me a weird text this morning but he didn’t exactly say anything,” Minseok says. “Maybe it’s an accident or something. I’m sure it’ll be fine–”

A loud crash interrupts him mid-sentence, enough to make him jump. When he looks at the origin, he notices a motorbike has hit his side mirror and has taken it clean off the car.

“What the fuck,” he mutters, hoping the kids didn’t hear him. He steps out of the car and sees the motorbike rapidly advancing down the street.

“What the hell?” Luhan says, incredulous. “Be careful, babe.”

Picking up the busted mirror, Minseok tries to look ahead to see what’s holding everyone up. The cars seem to be stuck in position but there isn’t any smoke or police lights that he can see. It doesn’t look like an accident.

“Get in your vehicle!” He hears from behind him. It startles him into compliance so he barely gets a quick look at the police officer shouting before quickly returning to his car. “Stay in your vehicle! Do not exit–”

But the police officer is no longer there. Instead, there is a garbage truck making his way through the stationed cars and people, without a care as to who he’s hitting or hurting.

Jongin starts crying and Soojung screams at the sight.

Freaked out but seeing a way out, Minseok puts the car in drive and follows behind the truck. 

“What are you doing?” Luhan asks, grabbing Minseok’s thigh in fear.

“It’s our way out,” Minseok replies. He steps on the gas pedal and hopes that the truck will clear a path to exit the city center.

“It’s ok, baby, calm down,” Luhan tells Jongin who is still crying. Soojung seems to have stopped, but Minseok knows she’s still upset. He just hopes it won’t trigger an asthma attack.

“It’s ok, Jongin. We’re ok,” Minseok adds.

“Soojung, get back in your seat,” Luhan says. He sounds a bit too panicky and, when Minseok looks through the rearview mirror, he sees the reason is because Soojung is not on her seat anymore. “Soojung, now,” he insists more forcefully.

“Honey, get back on your seat,” Minseok tells her. “Now, Soojung. Get back in your seat and put your seatbelt back on.” Even while putting his command voice front and center, Soojung doesn’t budge.

He’s about to turn back and pull her when they’re hit on the side by a bus. It drags them a few feet before they stop completely.

He’s a bit dizzy, a bit slow after they’re hit, but he feels mostly ok. He’s definitely cut his brow on the window. Shit, Soojung was sitting right behind him.

“Soojung, are you ok?” He asks worriedly.

“Soojung, are you hurt?” Luhan adds as well. “Jonginnie? Anything hurts?”

Luhan nearly climbs into the backseat to check on the kids but returns to the front quickly. Minseok wipes blood from his face and winces at the sting.

“She’s fine,” he informs Minseok. “Are you ok?”

“I’m fine,” Minseok answers but Luhan doesn’t believe until he’s checked his face.

“It’s small,” he concludes. “We’re ok. We’re ok.”

Thankfully, they weren't going very fast or he’d be telling a different story.

A sense of urgency suddenly overcomes him and he knows they need to move. They need to get out of the car. They need to leave the city right now.

“Get your things, Jongin. Soojung, take your backpack,” Luhan is saying and Minseok is put into motion with those words. Luhan’s receptiveness is out of this world, Minseok thinks. Thank God Minseok has him by his side.

“Out of the car, everyone. Let’s go,” Minseok affirms further.

Minseok has to climb out of Luhan’s door and pull Soojung through Jongin’s but they finally make it out and start walking down the street. There are shouts coming from behind them but everything is such a mess that he can’t make out anything in the throng of people running. He just knows they need to go.

As he searches for a vehicle to get into, he notices a person, a strange pallor to their skin and torn clothes, trying to enter someone else’s car by banging their head into the windshield, the people inside shocked into staying put. Once he manages to break through the thick glass, the wild person ups and bites the driver before moving onto their next target. 

What the actual fuck?

Minseok is shocked at the behaviour. He can’t think of what would cause a person to act in such a way other than extreme mental illness. For some reason he doesn't think that is it. This person looks clearly physically ill. He knows one doesn’t discard the other but this is something else altogether.

The driver of the car, now spasming on the ground, convulses for what seems to be no more than fifteen seconds before standing up and repeating the cycle with another victim. 

It’s too fucking crazy to be true, Minseok thinks. He looks back at Luhan and notices that in the moments he used watching the wild spectacle before him, his husband has already found a car for them to use.

“Get in the car, Minseok!” He shouts. “Come on!”

Minseok obeys without question and gets into the passenger seat of the car. He looks at the kids in the back and sees they’re no longer crying but they are definitely scared out of their minds. Minseok can’t blame them. He’s also scared. He has no idea what’s going on.

“Call Junmyeon,” Luhan tells him and Minseok obeys yet again.

Minseok dials Junmyeon’s number but it goes straight to voicemail. He dials again without change. He dials a third time before giving up entirely. It’s unlike Junmyeon to even pick up his phone so Minseok wasn’t expecting much. He tries calling the hospital where he works but, when that number also goes unanswered, he starts worrying about his brother.

“No one’s picking up,” Minseok tells Luhan.

“Not even the hospital?” Luhan asks, and Minseok shakes his head. He sees Luhan taking a deep breath before taking the highway up north. Minseok can’t lose his brother. He’s the only family he has left other than the ones with him. His parents died when they were very young so, being only a year apart, they had had to raise each other.

Luhan takes Minseok’s hand and squeezes tight, probably knowing what’s going through Minseok’s head.

“Daddy,” Jongin says from the back. “Daddy, Soojung…”

Minseok looks at his daughter in her seat and realizes she’s wheezing. Shit.

Thankfully, the SUV Luhan picked up is huge and Minseok has no problem climbing into the back to sit next to Soojung.

“Hey, baby girl,” he whispers. “You’re ok. We’re all ok.” He rubs her back and can nearly feel her chest rattling through her shirt. “Come on, in through your nose, out through your mouth. You’ve got this.”

“Jongin, get your sister’s inhaler from her backpack,” Luhan tells the little boy.

“I already looked. It’s not there,” the boy answers softly, probably afraid that Soojung will get in trouble.

Minseok takes a deep breath and thinks. He has stashed backup inhalers all over the place, there has to be one nearby. There was at least one in the car that they abandoned in the middle of the road. There was one in his backpack in the trunk of said car. Luhan carries a couple in his bag as well.

“Do you have your bag with you, Luhan?”

Luhan, looking like he wants to punch himself, says, “I left it in the goddamned car.”

“It’s ok,” he says, mostly to himself. “Come on, baby. There you go. In and out slowly.”

He continues coaching the girl, breathing along with her and encouraging her, but it’s not doing much. “We’re going to need a pharmacy,” he ends up saying. “Jongin see if there’s any water for your sister in the back.”

The back of the SUV is huge and filled with things. Maybe they’ll find something useful.

While Jongin is rummaging in the back, Minseok’s phone starts ringing. He nearly drops it in his haste to pick up.

“H-hello?” He says, smiling at Soojung so she doesn't worry.

“Minseok? It’s Yunho.”

Yunho, his old coworker from the U.N. They had investigated more than one illness outbreak together, and had travelled through some of the most dangerous places in the world trying to find cures and treatments for terrible diseases. If Yunho’s calling him then they’re in deep trouble. “What’s going on, Yunho?”

“Where are you?” he says without preambles.

“We’re on the I-95 heading north to New York. I can’t get a hold of my brother.”

“I’ll see what I can do about him, I’m heading that way, but I’m going to try and send someone to get you. Get somewhere you’re easily visible. Hopefully we’ll be able to send a chopper soon. Can you hold on an hour?”

“What’s this, Papa?” Jongin interrupts innocently.

Minseok heart nearly stops as he looks at the little boy holding a hunting rifle. He quickly takes the weapon from Jongin’s hands and checks the safety is on. 

“Go sit down and buckle up, please,” he tells the boy. 

Jesus, that took five years off his lifespan.

Focusing back on the phone call, he adds, “What are we dealing with?”

“We don’t know yet. Have you encountered it?”

“Yeah,” he says without getting into detail. He’s still astonished at the rapidness with which the driver of that taxi had been infected. “We’ll be waiting for you. Don’t forget about us.”

“Get somewhere safe, Minseok. We’ll try as hard as we can to get to you guys.”

“Thanks, Yunho.” He hangs up. 

He looks at Luhan reassuringly, knowing he’ll have to tell him everything once the kids are settled and they can’t hear the grown ups talk.

Luhan nods once and focuses back on the road.

\--

Soojung seems to calm down during the ride, slumping on Minseok as they drive. He tries calling Junmyeon five more times but to no avail. He has no clue where his brother could be. He might not even make it to New York before they get picked up.

“There’s a pharmacy right there,” Luhan says into the rearview mirror once they arrive in Newark. Minseok takes a deep breath and prepares the kids.

Jongin looks upset as he puts on his backpack and Soojung is trying very hard not to cry.

“This is the plan, kiddos. Daddy’s going to drive us to the pharmacy, we’ll pick up Soojung’s inhalers and get some food and then we’ll drive away, ok?”

Soojung and Jongin both nod obediently while Luhan enters the commercial complex’s parking lot. There are hundreds of people running around desperately, some getting food, some gettin survival supplies, others getting TVs and electronics. Minseok can’t reproach anything right now, uncertainty brings chaos and people react differently when set against a situation such as this.

They all get out of the car quickly, Minseok strapping the rifle onto his back, and walking towards the supermarket. There is a pharmacy inside and Minseok is praying they have enough albuterol to last them a couple weeks. He doesn't think they’ll be able to find another one any time soon. This whole thing looks like chaos.

“You go get the medicine and I’ll get us some food,” Luhan tells him while picking up Jongin who, surprisingly, goes willingly. He’s been refuting all things that he deems as babyish but Minseok guesses now is not the time to want to be a big boy.

Taking Soojung’s hand, he goes into the back where the pharmacy is supposed to be and starts rummaging through the shelves in search of the Albuterol. Soojung’s asthma has tapered off in the past couple of years but you can never be too sure she won’t have a serious attack.

He’s having trouble finding anything useful when a man comes in from the back with a handgun. He looks calm and collected as he points it at Minseok while chaos reigns behind them in the aisles of the supermarket. 

Moving to stand in front of Soojung, he lifts up his hands, showing he’s not a threat and hoping the rifle at his back won’t make the guy just shoot. Behind him, Soojung grabs his shirt and crumples it in her fist.

“What do you need?” The man asks, no emotion showing on his face.

“Albuterol.”

The man moves calmly, going straight for a drawer where he fishes three boxes and hands them to Minseok. Maybe he works here. Maybe he’s a junkie who doesn’t want anyone near his newly found stash. “They’re supposed to outgrow the asthma,” he mentions conversationally.

Minseok doesn't answer but takes the boxes with surprisingly steady hands. He’s always been good under pressure. It’s one of the things that made him good at his job.

“Here,” the man says, giving him two boxes of a different inhaler. “These work like a charm on my kid.”

“Thanks,” Minseok says dumbfounded, turning around and walking away as fast as they can.

That was surreal, he thinks as he searches the aisles for Luhan and Jongin. The supermarket’s shelves are half empty already, most people scrambling to get whatever’s left. 

With Soojung’s hand held tight on his own, he continues searching for any sign of Luhan and Jongin, but this is a large supermarket and there are too many people. 

He pauses mid-step next to the gross bread Luhan favors when he hears Jongin screaming, “Papa! Papa!”

“Jongin! Luhan!” he shouts back. He runs, tracing the screams to a kart rolling slowly down the yoghurt aisle, Jongin crying and screaming inside. Jongin seems ok, only scared, but Luhan is not with him.

“Luhan!” He calls. There’s a scuffle near the end of the aisle and Minseok approaches it with the rifle drawn. He can’t see what it’s about, the fight just off his range of view.

“It’s all I fucking have!” Minseok hears Luhan shout.

Minseok’s blood boils as he approaches and sees three men gang up on Luhan to try and rob him. Luhan tries valiantly to get them off but three against one is not a really fair fight.

Minseok shoots a warning shot into the air and two of the men immediately run off. However, one of them, the largest one, aims his own gun at Minseok and shoots. Thankfully, he’s a terrible shot because it lands far from where Minseok is standing. 

The man continues to shoot and, knowing their lives are at risk with some asshole shooting up the place, Minseok aims for the man’s chest and shoots. The large man goes down hard and Minseok lowers his weapon.

Luhan gets up quickly and wraps around Minseok. He doesn't know which of the two is trembling the most, but he does know that he wants to get the fuck out of this supermarket as fast as he can.

“Fuck, Minseok.,” Luhan exclaims. “Are you ok? Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine,” Minseok answers. “I’m ok. Are you?”

Luhan doesn’t get a chance to reply.

There is a police officer walking directly towards him and he clearly saw all that went down, including the large dead man currently lying in a pool of blood. Fuck. Not knowing what else to do, he lifts up his hands and rifle in the air. This cannot end this way. He cannot get arrested right now, he still needs to find Junmyeon and get his family to safety. 

His heart beats wildly inside his chest as the police officer walks closer, a determined look on his face. However, the whole situation is so fucked up that the police officer walks right past by him and starts collecting food from the shelves.

Seeing the opportunity, Luhan grabs the kids and pulls Minseok’s arm to get them out of the store. Minseok is a little shell shocked. He killed a man that was threatening his family. He’ll probably never be tried or judged for doing so. He’s walking away scot-free.

He doesn’t even notice the moment they step out of the supermarket and into the parking lot. 

“Where’s the car?” Soojung asks worriedly, interrupting Minseok’s line of thought.

“Fuck,” Luhan replies.

Minseok’s breathing picks up. What should they do? They can’t stay out in the open, it’s too dangerous. Their experience inside the damn supermarket is a clear example of why they should find shelter right now.

Thoughts going a mile a minute, his eyes land on a building complex across the street. It’s tall enough to be able to be seen from the top if– no, when the chopper comes get them. 

It’ll do.

“Let’s go there,” he says to Luhan, pointing at the apartment building.

Luhan, probably seeing what Minseok himself is seeing, nods and starts running towards the entrance. Minseok picks up Jongin while Luhan grabs Soojung’s hand.

They reach it no time, thankfully, but have to dodge a few of the wild people on their way. One of them follows them into the building but a well aimed bullet to the head seems to stop him.

He doesn’t dwell on it, following his family up the stairs and into the hallways. There’s no time to think about anything other than getting to safety.

They find the staircase easily and start climbing but, on the third floor, they find an infected person coming down. They quickly exit the staircase and close the door tight behind them. 

Minseok puts Jongin down to make sure there are no infected people coming their way.

“We need to get to the rooftop,” Luhan says.

He has no way to communicate with Yunho so no way to know when exactly they’ll be getting picked up. He has no official ID on him anyway since all of that is safely tucked away in his closet.

“Jongin?” Luhan asks, interrupting Minseok’s spiralling thoughts. “Jongin!”

“Jongin!” Minseok shouts. He was right here a minute ago, damn it.

He starts inspecting the hallway but this is a large building with several apartments per floor. There are many fucking hallways and many fucking doors.

He hears Jongin before he sees him, standing in front of a closed door and screaming, “let me in!” at the top of his lungs.

Luhan runs to get him, picking him up instantly while Minseok grabs Soojung’s hand.

Miraculously, the door Jongin was screaming at opens, and Minseok wastes no time herding everyone inside the small apartment.

“Thank you,” Minseok says to the three people inside. “Thank you.”

“No problem,” the man says in accented English.

Luhan sits Jongin and Soojung on the couch and makes Soojung use her inhaler just to be on the safe side. Minseok sits across from them on the floor with his rifle safely tucked next to him, watching as the young family of four moves around the kitchen.

A young boy, probably around nine or ten years old, stands between his parents, watching them curiously. The apartment, tiny as it is, seems to barely accommodate the family that lives inside. Now, with an extra four people, it seems even smaller.

The couple don’t look afraid of them at least. Minseok would not blame them if they did, showing up the way they did. He’s grateful for the reprieve from the outside world right now.

The woman whispers something that sounds like Korean to the boy and the boy dutifully approaches them and asks, “would you like something to eat?”

“Please, thank you,” Luhan says.

Minseok’s forgotten most of his Korean, not having practised it since his parents died when he was young, but he still remembers the basics. 

“Thank you,” he says to the family in accented Korean. 

The couple smile gently as if it’s no big deal, like they hadn’t just saved them from certain death by letting them in.

“Please,” the man says, offering some beer to him and Luhan while the boy hands some juice boxes to Jongin and Soojung.

The small family all smile but don’t try to interact further. Minseok, needing to do something, fiddles with an old radio on top of an even older TV. He turns the knob to see if he catches anything but the only thing airing is an official message telling everyone to stay indoors and save food. Not very helpful, Minseok thinks.

When he makes sure that there’s absolutely no other information on the radio, he turns to his cell phone. He’s been more and more afraid to try and communicate with Junmyeon. What if he finds out something he’d rather not know? What if Junmyeon’s dead? What if he’s become one of those things roaming the street? It hurts to even think about it. However, by some miracle, his phone rings but there’s no identified caller. Could it be...

“Junmyeon?” He says into the speaker. Luhan, having been focused on getting Jongin to sit still, looks up in surprise.

“Minseok? Where are you? Is everyone ok?”

It’s Junmyeon on the other line. Minseok looks at Luhan and smiles. “We’re fine, Jun. We’re somewhere in Newark.”

He hears his brother’s sigh of relief before continuing, “I’m with Yunho. We were evacuated by chance into a U.N. post. He says they’re doing everything they can to come get you but it’ll probably be tomorrow. Sunrise,” he says.

“Ok, that’s ok. We’re safe for now,” Minseok replies. 

“Tell him I’ve got flares,” Luhan says.

Minseok obeys and passes on the information. “Will you be where they take us to?”

“I don’t know. I’m not much of anyone, unlike you, you big shot,” Junmyeon says as he laughs. “They say we’ll probably get sent to a refugee camp whenever they figure out where that will be.”

Lowering his head and rubbing his eyes, Minseok knows just what that will look like. Refugee camps can become dangerous and lawless over time. However, considering Junmyeon’s skills as a surgeon, he won’t be released easily. Minseok just hopes he can be there with him soon enough to get him out.

“Be careful, Jun.”

“I will be. Take care of the kids. See you soon.”

“See you.”

He hangs up and takes a deep breath. Luhan is looking at him intently but he can’t bring himself to talk right now. He needs a minute. A long minute.

  
  



	2. Movement is life

He startles awake, confused at first but remembering all the stuff that’s happened pretty quickly. His neck hurts from the awkward position he fell asleep in and his legs are completely asleep. Looking around the room, he realises he fell asleep in the same spot he had been talking to Junmyeon in. Luhan is across from him, sleeping on the couch with Jongin. Soojung is not with them. 

Soojung is not here.

He gets up quickly, not letting himself panic yet, and starts checking every nook and cranny he finds. Soojung had a habit of hiding when she was little so Minseok became an expert at finding her.

He has to stop for a minute as his legs begin waking up. This is horribly inconvenient.

Once he’s able to move again, he checks the kitchen and the entire living room. Then moves into the small hallway where he finds a door ajar. He opens it to find Soojung fast asleep on top of several blankets and Kyungsoo sleepily rubbing his eyes.

“She was crying,” he says.

Minseok lets out a breath. She’s fine. Just sleeping.

“Thank you, Kyungsoo. You’re a good boy,” Minseok tells him. The boy blushes but smiles. Minseok can’t help ruffling the boy’s short hair.

Confident they will be fine, Minseok gets back to the living to wait out their time before they are picked up.

\--

“There’s something we used to always say whenever we were on the field,” Minseok says. He’s sitting down with the couple who welcomed them, Kyungsoo as translator, while Soojung keeps Jongin occupied. Minseok is sure she’s not missing a word, though.

As Kygunsoo repeats everything back to his parents in Korean, Luhan squeezes Minseok’s hand in support.

“Movement is life,” Minseok adds. He repeats it again in Korean, hoping that the couple will be convinced to go with them. Staying here is too dangerous, especially seeing the unpredictability of the infected people’s actions.

“Thank you. We stay,” the man says. His wife nods, agreeing with him.

Minseok smiles at them sadly but doesn't try to convince them. He knows it’s futile. The family still helps them get everything ready to leave. It’s nearly sun up so they need to hurry. They give them knives and rope to not get separated from each other. The man even helps Minseok strap some magazines on his arms to avoid getting bit by one of those things.

They say goodbye before opening the door. Luhan ruffles Kyungsoo’s hair while the boy smiles at them.

“Be safe,” Luhan tells them. 

Minseok is the first to walk out. He has more experience with guns and is a pretty good shot. The kids go in the middle while Luhan guards the rear with a kitchen knife. It’s all they can do to try and keep themselves safe.

They walk down the hall slowly, and reach the door to the stairs very quietly. When Minseok opens the door, the loud creaking alarms the infected nearby and they all come rushing.

“Shit,” Minseok says. “Run! Everyone, to the rooftop!”

He cuts his part of the rope and makes Luhan take the kids up while he starts shooting up infected on the staircase. There aren’t many, but all it takes is one to end your life. As he runs up the stairs, he can hear people screaming in the distance. He hopes Kyungsoo and his family are ok but odds are stacked against them.

There’s a large filing cabinet someone must have dumped here that becomes very useful in killing infected. Two bodies end up squashed underneath it as he runs but a third one climbs over and lunges for Minseok. Up one floor, Luhan is herding the kids though the rooftop door. 

“Go!” Minseok shouts as he tries to fight off the thing that used to be a person. “Get them out!”

Somehow, he manages to get the rifle and shoot the bastard in the face, but not without blood dripping all over his face. Heart racing, he pushes the body away only to see Kyungsoo climbing over the cabinet looking scared out of his mind. Guessing as to what might have happened, he grabs the boy and pulls him towards the roof.

He can see Luhan has already lit the flares that will guide the chopper towards them. Minseok directs Kyungsoo to Luhan’s side and runs to the edge of the roof. He scrubs the blood away from his eyes and mouth and waits. He’s not sure how long it takes for someone to turn, but it can’t be over fifteen seconds. As he counts, he can hear Luhan and the kids screaming for him to step away from the ledge.

“Papa!”

“Minseok, stop it!”

“Papa, you’re gonna fall!”

But he doesn't move. He doesn't move until at least twenty seconds have gone by and he feels fine, not like he’s about to turn into a biting, wild creature. When he’s done counting, he steps away from the ledge and wipes stray tears from his eyes.

“It got into my mouth,” he explains.

“You’re fine,” Luhan says, or more like commands, as he hugs Minseok tight.

They hear the sound of a chopper coming closer at the same time as a hoard of infected try to enter through the rooftop door. 

Minseok runs to try and stop them from exiting the building while Luhan takes the three kids towards the chopper.

Thankfully, they came armed. Two soldiers step off the chopper and start shooting at the infected mercilessly, which gives Minseok the opportunity to run towards his family.

The soldiers are effective and deadly and, when they are ready to return, the machine guns on the chopper are able to clear a path long enough for everyone to get back to safety.

Luhan straps Jongin and Kyngsoo to the seat before strapping himself while Minseok takes Kyungsoo and does the same. The boy is shaken, trembling the entire time Minseok makes sure he’s safe and, when Minseok himself is ready, he pulls the boy into his chest and lets him cry.

Kygunsoo weeps the entire ride to wherever they’re going.


	3. Help is on the way

“These are your bunks,” Yunho informs them. “Numbers 1, 2 and 3.”

It’s a tight fit, this ship. They are settled at the end of a long hallway full of bunks. There are three to four beds stacked one on top of another and they all seem to be occupied.

Luhan picks Jongin up and settles him in one of the middle bunks, Soojung taking a lower bunk while Kyungsoo stands there, probably not knowing what to do.

“Who’s in charge?” Minseok asks.

“This is a Navy ship, so they are in charge. Everything goes through them,” Yunho tells him. “These are all mostly survivors.” Yunho indicates the crowded hallway to prove it.

“Babe,” Luhan says, asking Minseok to take it elsewhere with a nod of his head.

Yunho leads him towards the command center as he informs him of what’s going on.

“We lost the president, the VP is M.I.A, and half of congress is dead,” he says bluntly.

“So, there’s no command?”

“The military have filled the position but they have been as crippled by this as everyone.”

They enter a large room acting as a command post where people are running around frantically. He hears the wildest things as they walk towards the front.

“What do you mean we lost Boston?”

“Have all the children been infected?”

“The central government has fallen as of 9am Eastern standard time.”

Bewildered, Minseok continues scanning the room. There are screens counting infected and dead and maps showing the beginnings of complete devastation. This is so messed up.

“That’s Huang Zitao,” Yunho says, directing him to a young, dark-haired individual talking to a group of people. “He’s a leading virologist out of Harvard and he’s leading our scientific team.”

Minseok looks at the man and only sees a skinny boy that seems to still be wet behind the ears.

“So, what’s our next move?”

Yunho tells him they had received communication from an army base in South Korea that could be a clue. “It’s the earliest missive that mentions the word ‘zombie’. We have been unable to communicate with them. We’re sending Dr. Huang in to see what he can find out. If he can find the origin, he might find a way to treat or cure this thing.”

“He’s a kid,” Minseok says, expressionless.

“He’s our greatest chance.”

Jesus Christ.

“Commander on deck!” A soldier shouts, and everyone stops what they are doing to stand and salute.

“At ease,” the commander says at once.

“Commander,” Yunho greets him once he’s joined their group.

“Mr. Undersecretary,” the commander greets back before looking at Minseok directly. “Your secretary here tells me you were one of his best investigators back in the day. We want to send you with Dr. Huang and a team to get to the bottom of this thing.”

Minseok looks at Yunho feeling confused. “Is that why you brought me here?”

Yunho takes a deep breath before answering. “I wanted you to see where we are right now. We’re going to need all the help we can get. You’re one of our foremost investigators, Minseok, and you’re one hell of a soldier.”

“I’m no soldier, nor am I an investigator anymore,” Minseok says. “I can’t leave my family.”

“You’re one of the few we can trust to take this doctor out there,” the commander informs him. “We all know Dr. Huang wouldn’t last a night out in this turmoil.”

“You’ve worked for us enough to know how to deal with politics as well as the medical side of this endeavour,” Yunho adds.

“I left the job because it was killing me, consuming me inside out. My family is all that matters now.” And it’s true. Minseok quit that life the minute he handed over his paperwork and everyone’s been happy ever since. Especially him.

“Minseok, you’re–” Yunho tries to say before Minseok interrupts him.

“Don’t say ‘our only hope’, you bastard,” Minseok replies angrily. How dare he use his love of Star Wars to convince him. “I can’t leave my family. I’m sorry.”

Yunho takes a deep breath and puts his hand on Minseok’s shoulder. “You’d be doing this for your family.”

“What?”

“Take a look around, Mr. Kim,” the commander says. “There is no room on this ship for non-essential personnel. You want to help your family? Help us see this through.” The commander leaves him with those words as he goes do whatever the hell he does.

“Please, Minseok. You are one of the few who can do this,” Yunho finishes. 

“Is that why you got my brother to call me? Was he ever on this ship? Or did you just find him to get me to come here?” Minseok asks, wanting nothing more than to hit something.

“Is that who you think I am?” Yunho says, disappointed all over his tone. “No, I didn’t ask him to do anything, he volunteered. And it was truly by chance that we met. It was in New York, right after we picked up a high ranking official from your brother’s hospital.”

Minseok deflates, lowering his head and taking a minute. He feels like a fool now. 

“Sorry,” he tells Yunho. “I didn’t mean to imply–”

“No worries, my friend. Just tell me you can do this. Do it for your family.”

Closing his eyes, he can already see Luhan’s face when he tells him he’ll be leaving in the middle of a world crisis.

“Fine,” he says, resignedly. “Just promise me you’ll make sure they’re safe.”

“I will.”

Minseok turns around and leaves.

\--

The first thing Minseok does when he’s able to talk to Luhan alone is tell him everything he learned at the command center, including the commander’s offer.

“You don’t work for them anymore,” Luhan says angrily. “They can’t ask you to do this, can they?”

Instead of answering a question which Luhan already knows the answer to, he pulls him in for a hug and rests his chin on Luhan’s shoulder. They stay like that for a few moments, just breathing and swaying.

“I have to go, Lu,” Minseok whispers.

“I will never forgive you if you die. You know that, right?”

“Mhm,” Minseok replies. “I know.”

He pulls back and kisses Luhan once, twice, three times, unwilling to let go. There are tears in Luhan’s eyes that Minseok knows he’s reluctant to let loose. However, their time is coming to an end and Minseok needs to leave.

“You need to know that I’m doing this because I want to. I’m doing it to keep you safe, Lu,” Misneok tells him. “There’s no space on this ship for anyone other than the absolutely necessary and even then it’s too much.”

“I know. I know. You’ve always been a self-sacrificing fool.”

Minseok smiles as he pulls out a sat phone and hands it to Luhan, knowing this will be their only form of communication for the foreseeable future.

“I’ll call you once a day. As long as we get to talk, you’ll know everything’s ok.”

Luhan nods, taking the phone from Minseok. He then strokes Minseok’s cheek and pulls him into another hug. “Go be a hero. We’ll be waiting here for you.” 

“I love you so much.”

“I love you, too.”

\--

“But I don’t want you to go,” Jongin says and it absolutely breaks Minseok’s heart. 

He has to take a second before answering. “I don’t want to go either, but I promise I’ll be back soon, ok? Be a good boy for Daddy, baby.”

“Not a baby,” he mumbles but hugs Minseok tight anyway.

“I love you, kiddo.”

“I love you, Papa.”

Minseok turns around and goes over to where Soojung is sleeping. He doesn’t want to wake her, knowing that she needs to rest and avoid any triggers right now – the Albuterol they have will only last so much – so he whispers he loves her in her ear and promises he’ll return as fast as he can.

Then he kneels by the bottom bunk and grabs Kyungsoo’s hand. “How are you doing, bud?”

Kyungsoo shrugs as he tries to hold back tears. 

“Can you promise me one thing?” Minseok asks and the boy nods obediently. “Take care of everyone, ok? I know you’re good at that.”

“Ok,” Kyungsoo answers.

Minseok ruffles the boy’s hair and gives him a hug. He chuckles when Kyungsoo hugs him back just as tight.

“Alright, Kim,” Luhan says as he straightens Minseok’s jacket. “Go get ‘em.”

“Fuck, I love you,” Minseok mumbles into Luhan’s mouth. Luhan kisses him back fiercely but they separate quickly.

He looks back three times in the short walk from the bunks into a main hallway.

\--

The flight to South Korea is not as terrible as he’d thought, it’s only insanely long. They departed from the East Coast, just off New York, so it’ll take them more than usual to get where they need to go.

“Nervous?” He asks Zitao, the almighty virologist.

“A bit,” he answers, fidgeting.

“Look, this is how it goes,” Minseok begins. “Those guys?” He says, pointing at the two Navy SEALs with them. “They’re here to keep you safe. We have no clue what we’re walking into so we follow them. They move, you move. If things go to shit, focus on them, follow where they go and we’ll be alright. Got it?”

Zitao nods and looks a little less like he’s gonna hurl.

“If you see anything at all that might be of importance, call it out and we’ll make it happen.”

“I will.”

“So, you think we’re gonna find anything?” The SEAL commander asks Zitao. 

“Yeah, I do,” he answers confidently. “You see, Mother Nature is like a natural born serial killer, and like all serial killers, she wants to be caught. What good are all those crimes if no one takes credit? So she leaves crumbs. The thing is taking those crumbs and identifying them for what they are: clues. Most of the time, the thing that you thought was the biggest strength, is actually the biggest weakness. And she loves disguising her weaknesses as strengths.”

The commander looks unconvinced but stays shut.

“That sounds like a pile of horse-shit,” the other soldier says. “But I’ll leave the science to all y’all.”

Minseok is not a fan of that kind of science, like everything is a mystery with a clear solution, but he is not a virologist. Mentally agreeing with the soldier about leaving the science to the scientists, he settles in for a long nap.

\--

“We’re two minutes out,” the pilot calls. “Most of the base is dark so we’re going in blind. We’re running on fumes which means we’ve got no choice. Buckle up.”

Minseok has lost track of the hours as they moved through time zones. All he knows is that outside is dark and that they’re about to enter the unknown. He uses the time he has left to send a prayer to whoever is listening.

After the longest two minutes of his life, they land without issues. Everyone quickly gets on their feet and gets ready to disembark. 

“Keep your finger off the trigger,” Minseok warns Zitao as he hands him a gun. “Look alive.”

As the back door opens slowly, they immediately hear the infected growling in the distance. The two SEALs are the first off the ramp with Minseok and Zitao following closely behind.

They advance cautiously, not knowing what is out there. It all happens so fast. One second they are alone in the dark, and the next they are being tackled by infected people. Two of them lunge at one of the soldiers, taking him down quickly, which makes the commander start shooting at everything that moves. Zitao, probably scared of the fighting, turns back towards the inside of the plane.

“Wait, get back here,” Minseok warns, but to no effect. 

Zitao, in his hurry, then promptly slips on the floor and falls face first into the ground, making his gun go off with a loud bang that reverberates throughout the plane.

Minseok approaches the still form, kneeling to see the damage. He lets out a deep breath when he realizes Zitao is dead. The bullet went right through his skull. 

So much for their greatest hope.

They’re saved from certain death by a group of soldiers from the base showing up and shooting up the infected with deadly accuracy. Minseok didn’t even hear them coming, the soldiers being extremely quiet in the endeavour and, strangely enough, using silencers on their guns.

“Friendly! Friendly!” the leader calls, not wanting to get shot. “Keep it down. No noise.”

“What is this?” another soldier asks, pointing at the body of their virologist on the ground. It’s too dark to see ranks or last names on their uniforms so it’s impossible to tell who is who.

“He slipped. He’s dead,” Minseok informs them.

“Well, then,” the leader says. “That’s that. Let’s get out of here.”

The soldiers then recount ammo and reload, skillfully exiting the plane towards the main building. Minseok follows wordlessly behind, making sure the pilot of the plane is in sight and safe.

Once inside, the soldier, a captain named Speke according to his name tape and rank, confronts Minseok angrily, muttering about putting his men at risk.

“What are y’all doing here, anyway?”

“That man that shot himself back there is a virologist, a scientist,” Minseok tells them.

“Yeah? What the hell has that got to do with anything?” Captain Speke asks, already deflating. The rest of the soldiers all follow his lead and relax, lowering their weapons and finding seats all over the spartan room.

“He was supposed to be our best hope for fighting this thing.”

The other soldier, a corporal named Ford, huffs, no humour in his tone. “Well, ain’t that a bitch.”

Affronted at the comment, Minseok frowns and looks at the soldier dead on. “That guy came here out of his own free will because he wanted to help, wanted to get to the bottom of this.” Minseok runs his hand through his hair as he lets out a deep breath. “He didn’t have to come here. None of us did.”

“Shit happens. Too bad for him.”

Wanting to move on from the conversation, Minseok shakes his head and looks at the captain.

“We need to refuel. How do we do that?”

The captain, though now that he can see the pinstripes clearly, Minseok knows this isn’t just some random captain. He’s a Ranger. A skilled one at that.

“We do it silently and only when I say we can,” the captain informs him.

Pieces start converging in Minseok’s head. It was the gunshots that attracted an impossible number of infected back in the plane. It was the staircase door that had them running for their lives back at Kyungsoo’s building.

“Are they drawn to noise?” Minseok asks.

“Yeah, like moths to a flame. Body shots are useless but head shots seem to do the trick. When in doubt, burn them.”

“You fought any of them yet?” a sergeant asks from behind the captain.

“Yeah,” Minseok answers.

“Where?” The captain adds.

“Philly, Newark.”

The captain looks up at that, worry marring his features. “Philly? Is it bad?”

“What about Tucson?” the sergeant asks.

“San Diego?”

“Orlando?”

Minseok lifts up his hands to stop them. There are no placating words he can think of. No way to ensure these men that their cities and families are ok.

“I’m not gonna lie to you guys, there aren’t many places doing ok,” he says.

The men all look troubled but not defeated. There is just no way to confirm anything at this moment and they know it. They are far away from their country, all they can do is wait.

“If that guy was a virologist,” the sergeant says, “then what do you do?”

“I was told there was a message out of this installation containing the word ‘zombie’ eleven days ago,” he tells them.

“That’s right,” the captain says. “Though it wasn’t a message, it was an email. Glad they’re taking the time to read those,” he says darkly, moving into a deeper part of the installation beckoning Minseok to follow him.

They stop in front of what seem like prisoner cells. All that is left is charred remains of several soldiers around the metal frame of an old timey bed, body included.

“This is where they were. 15 or 16 guys here, all of them bitten by this one dude they were trying to handcuff to the bed,” the captain adds.

“The colonel said he was the first one,” the sergeant mentions. 

“Where’s the colonel?” Minseok asks. Maybe this colonel has some answers.

“Oh, right there,” he says, pointing at one of the many burned bodies.

Damn it. Minseok sighs and looks back at the ranger. “Do you know what bit this man? Who bit him?”

“He was the base doctor,” the captain informs him. “But he had been out in the field for days checking with the locals. He came back sick and started biting our people.”

Minseok walks into the cell, trying not to step on any remains, to see if there’s anything at all that might help him figure out what the hell is going on. He notices the filing cabinets where records are kept are burned to a crisp. There’s nothing here.

“So, there’s no way to figure out the origin,” Minseok says, mostly to himself.

“Shame you had to fly all the way here to figure that out,” the captain says, not unkindly. Minseok is thinking the same thing.

“How did you all make it?”

The sergeant cocks his gun and says, “ammunition.” Minseok notices the man has been keeping weight off his left leg, limping slightly as he moves.

“That how you hurt your leg?”

“No, it’s been bugging me a while now.”

“This lucky son of a bitch stands right in the mix while six or seven men turn around him. He walked away just like that. Unbelievable,” the captain recounts.

“They just couldn’t mess with my pretty ass,” the sergeant replies.

Strange that they didn’t jump right in to bite him, Minseok thinks. Wanting to know more about the behaviour of these infected people, he asks, “the ones I saw turned in less than fifteen seconds. Was it like that here?”

“These turned in minutes, no longer than ten.”

So perhaps it’s advancing, becoming stronger. Ten minutes to fifteen seconds is a hell of a mutation. Minseok’s seen diseases mutate and change over time, but never this fast and never this deadly.

“Sir, they are eating me! Help!” a man shouts mockingly from the cell at the end of the hall, laughing as if it’s the funniest thing he’s ever heard. It’s the only cell occupied and Minseok is surprised there are any prisoners still here.

“Who’s that?” He asks the captain.

“Don’t mind him,” the captain replies. “C.I.A. that got caught selling weapons to North Korea.”

“Turning in 10 minutes? Yeah, a virus my ass,” the man continues. 

“You CIA?” Minseok asks as he approaches the man’s cell.

“Not anymore. And who might you be?”

Minseok enters the cell and sits down at the small table inside, the man shackled to it across from him. He looks like hell, Minseok thinks; dirty, smelly, torn clothes that hang off a thin body. But what’s most surprising of all is the fact that the man seems to have no teeth. None.

“U.N.”

“Oh, my! We’re saved! Did you hear that, boys? The U.N. has arrived!”

Ignoring the mocking, Minseok continues. “Why did you sell guns to the North?”

“Why? Jealous?”

“Are they surviving this?”

The man smiles, his toothless smile a parody of his own child’s. God, he misses his family.

“Maybe.”

“With your guns?”

Te ugly smile comes back, followed by a mocking chuckle. “Not exactly.”

“How then?” Interrogating subjects is something Minseok is used to. Just keep moving and don’t let yourself get distracted by non answers or non sequiturs.

“I’ll give you one guess,” he replies and smiles wide. The gums inside his mouth are still swollen, cavities where the teeth used to be filled up with blood.

Minseok falls silent. No way.

“They took the most prominent danger,” the man continues. “Remove the teeth, remove the threat.”

“Bullshit,” he calls. There’s no way they removed an entire population’s teeth, that’s insane. But...

“The greatest feat in the history of humanity,” the man remarks. “You just have to focus on effective and immediate actions. Now, why do you have to burn them to make sure they’re dead? Why do they seem dead but continue walking around? Why biting? Why are some countries better than others? Why is Israel winning? How is Israel winning?” 

Minseok is not sure where this rambling is going, but he listens attentively. Rumors usually come from specks of real fact. So he pays attention and he remembers. 

“They sealed off their entire country days before the infected attacked. How?” The man asks.

“Israel has been building walls for thousands of years,” Minseok tells him, knowing the man will continue his diatribe anyway. These kinds of people just want to be heard, no matter how crazy what they are saying might sound.

“Right, but finish them all just in time for this?” 

It could be something. But how did they do it? How did they know?

“Jurgen Warmbrunn. That’s the man in Jerusalem you want to see,” he finishes.

With that piece of information, Minseok is off. There’s no time to waste and he has no other leads. If it’s a futile endeavour then he’s fucked. Getting back stateside is going to be a bitch from the Middle East, but he can’t dismiss a lead just because it came from a toothless war criminal arrested at the North Korean border. 

Jesus, he’s fucked.

Once he exits the cell and heads back to the room he was in, he tells the pilot to get ready.

“We’re going to Jerusalem,” he informs everyone.


End file.
